Site Search Navigation

Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

9 Novels Both Girls and Boys Can Love

By Kj Dell’Antonia April 2, 2014 2:55 pmApril 2, 2014 2:55 pm

Photo

Credit KJ Dell'Antonia

The Motherlode contributor Jessica Lahey appeared on the Today show discussing “closing the chapter on boy vs. girl books.” Smart topic — as a passionate reading child, I actually cared a whole lot about whether the protagonist of most books was a boy or a girl (for a rare few it didn’t matter at all), but my favorite books were the ones in which both sexes got equal playing time, either because gender didn’t matter in a particular storyline, or because the book or series followed multiple characters, both male and female.

In honor of International Children’s Book Day, here are my nine favorite books or series that cross or erase any gender reading lines (the Harry Potter series, of course, goes without saying). Most are for middle grade readers and up, with a few having young adult themes.

SWALLOWS AND AMAZONSBy Arthur Ransome. Our house’s go-to read-aloud series (we just finished “Peter Duck” and are embarking on “We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea”) follows the adventures of several families of siblings sailing and camping around England circa 1930.

THE DRAGONRIDERS OF PERNBy Anne McCaffrey. As a teenager, I loved this science fiction/fantasy series, about life on a medieval-style planet where dragons rule the skies.

THE SATURDAYSBy Elizabeth Enright. All four books in the Melendy series follow four siblings (later, five) who adventure through the city, then move to the country for biking, hiking and enviable outdoor freedom during and around the Second World War. In “The Saturdays,” they pool their allowances and each take a turn at having the entire amount for an adventure.

GONE-AWAY LAKE and RETURN TO GONE-AWAY By Elizabeth Enright. There’s a strong theme of outdoor freedom in my list. Here, cousins spending a summer together in the country discover a dilapidated collection of houses around a lake turned to swamp.

HALF MAGIC By Edward Eager. Another family of siblings — three girls and a boy, in this case — find themselves having a series of very funny adventures while they figure out that they’ve found a magic coin that grants wishes by halves.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA By C.S. Lewis. Need I even describe these? But the focus of the story in these books balances so beautifully among characters of different gender and personality, with even Eustace, so hateful in the first chapters of “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” getting a chance to not just redeem but reveal himself.

A WRINKLE IN TIME By Madeleine L’Engle. My daughter first identified with Meg when we read this aloud; my younger son had an immediate connection with Charles Wallace. Gender does play a big role here, with the characters struggling with living up to, or failing, society’s perception of what it should be to be a boy or a girl, but the characters transcend their roles and by the end, and throughout the series, many children will see parts of themselves in both male and female characters.

FIVE CHILDREN AND IT By E. Nesbit. This is a rollicking, deeply old-fashioned, novel-length exploration of the phrase “be careful what you wish for.” It certainly doesn’t transcend gender — boys and girls are locked in their turn of the century roles and clothes — but they adventure in equal measure for a story anyone can enjoy, albeit with very little emotional connection to the character. Pure fun (although reading-aloud parents should be prepared to wince at stereotypes and racism consistent with the era).

FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER By E.L. Konigsburg. This story of a sister and brother who run away to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is the reason that a generation of children spend half their time at museums trying to figure out where they’ll hide at closing time and coveting the cash in the fountain.

That’s my nine. I know, 10 is a more standard list, but these are really the books I love and share with my four kids, boys and girls, and I’d have to go reach for a 10th. I did consider the “Little House” books, which we read out loud when the children were younger, but I find that girls reading to themselves love the books about Laura, while boys favor “Farmer Boy.” (I felt the same way as a child, but now “Farmer Boy” is my favorite.) On “Today,” Jess suggested “FraidyZoo,” by Thyra Heder; the “Magic Tree House” series, by Mary Pope Osborne; “Swallows and Amazons,” by Arthur Ransome (she got that from me!); “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” by Ransom Riggs; and “Sharp Teeth,” (for older teenagers) by Toby Barlow.

About

We're all living the family dynamic, as parents, as children, as siblings, uncles and aunts. At Motherlode, lead writer and editor KJ Dell’Antonia invites contributors and commenters to explore how our families affect our lives, and how the news affects our families—and all families. Join us to talk about education, child care, mealtime, sports, technology, the work-family balance and much more